CA CA - Hugues de la Plaza, 36, San Francisco, 2 June 2007

How did Hugues die?

  • He killed himself

    Votes: 5 5.7%
  • He was murdered.

    Votes: 83 94.3%

  • Total voters
    88
  • Poll closed .
  • #241
He was murdered.

The ME never concluded otherwise. She concluded she wasn't sure what had happened.

Spinners took that "conclusion," spun it as though she called it suicide and ran with it. Shifting the focus to the lousy job the pros did was perfect, brilliant, beautiful! Since then, everyone's been tangled up in his shorts while the killer's having a good chuckle.

Who had a motive, anyone?
The means?
Opportunity?

Has anyone who was once involved in his life lied or made inconsistent statements or behaved unusually?
 
  • #242
"But the first time I saw him after our breakup, in late 2006, it had changed."

"We broke up in 2003, but tried to get back together over the years."

"I also told him that Hugues and I had broken up more than FOUR years before"
 
  • #243
"I also told him that Hugues and I had broken up more than FOUR years before..." she assured Inspector Casillas in early June, 2007.

"More than 4 years," equals no later than the Spring of 2003. She said they broke up in October 2003.

"But the first time I saw him after our breakup, in late 2006, it had changed." Ergo, from October 2003 to November 2006 she had not seen him at all.

"We broke up in 2003, but tried to get back together over the years."

Wait! So, she did see him between 2003 and 2006? Not only that. She was seeing him with the specific goal of trying to get back together. (And, this does not include the November, 2006 to January 1, 2007 attempt.)

Moreover, the reason she moved from the East Coast back to San Francisco in November 2006 was in order to find out if they could make it work.

When she ended it in January, 2007, five months before he was stabbed to death, it was for good. No more contact with him, or his crowd and she knew nothing of his personal life.

However, after his death she refers to Hugues as her best friend, as well as her one true love, her baby boy and the love of her life. Breaking up with a lover/romantic interest kind of person is one thing.

Never again having anything whatsoever to do with your "best friend" is quite different. Why would a person cut off all relations with his best friend for good, if the person is still your best pal?
 
  • #244
"So, I said to this reporter, 'Why would some one commit suicide and go outside? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.'"

Who ever said this is what happened? The word "suicide" was not mentioned until she spoke to a reporter who doesn't do suicide stories. (BTW, since when don't newspapers report suicides? Wouldn't the paper at least include Hugues' death in the obituaries?)

Did Azar or the cops tell this reporter it was their theory that he stabbed himself and then he went outside? Did he tell her that's what they said or did Melissa instantaneously deduce this must be what they believed? Why?

"I find it hard to believe that someone would do something to themselves, walk outside and walk back in. I don't know. It just doesn't add up," another friend of Hugues said to a news crew within one week of his death.

Think about these statements a minute. To my knowledge no one ever decided he stabbed himself and then went outside. Were they guessing? To say this, to offer this scenario as theirs and then to refute it, when it never was their position in the first place doesn't make sense, IMO.

"I can't describe the pain. It was piercing to know that he was dead. That he was so young. I put on my journalist's hat and I called the police department in San Francisco to confirm that he was dead. I screamed, I screamed." This was Monday. Three friends called her Saturday. Two left messages and one called her cell (she didn't answer). Could you wait two days to confirm the love of your life was really dead?
 
  • #245
On processing the knife found In the kitchen sink, crime scene Investigators found evidence of blood.
 
  • #246
Dear 20 People Melissa Nix Refers To Who Can Verify Her Whereabouts,
Would you kindly confirm that in fact Ms. Nix was at home in Virginia visiting family on June 1 through June 2 between the hours of 10 pm Friday and 6 am Saturday, 2007? If you are not absolutely certain, then there is no need to respond. "Absolutely certain" means first-hand knowledge, eyewitness proof, and that you were in her presence physically, during that 8 hour time frame.
Many thanks,
Justice for Hugues
 
  • #247
"So, I said to this reporter, 'why would some one commit suicide and go outside? It doesn’t make a lot of sense.'"

Who ever said this is what happened? The word "suicide" was not mentioned until she spoke to a reporter who doesn't do suicide stories. (BTW, since when don't newspapers report suicides? Wouldn't the paper at least include Hugues' death in the obituaries?)

Did Azar or the cops tell the reporter it was their theory that before he went outside he stabbed himself? Did he tell her that's what they said or did Melissa instantaneously deduce this must be what they believed? Why?

"I find it hard to believe that someone would do something to themselves, walk outside and walk back in. I don't know. It just doesn't add up," another friend of Hugues said to a news crew within one week of his death.

Think about these statements a minute. To my knowledge, no one ever determined he stabbed himself and then went outside, certainly not within days. In fact, the "suicide" theory was not “seriously” considered until Nix brought it up, says Azar. And, according to Nix, the Inspector wouldn't talk to her anyway and he had no questions for her.

To make this statement/question as though the authorities arrived at this conclusion, to offer this scenario as the cops' position, only to refute it instantaneously, presumes she knew what they thought, even though they would not communicate with her! Remember? They brushed her off. Nix counters, without the slightest pause or hesitation, that stabbing himself inside his apartment and then going outside makes no sense. Hold on a minute!

Where in the world does she get that idea? For suicide to occur, she says, he must have stabbed himself inside his apartment and then gone outside, which is irrational and cannot be accurate. Excuse me? At this point, she has observed the blood outside on the landing and steps, IMO. However, why doesn't she consider other possibilities? Maybe he stabbed himself and then went inside.

"I can't describe the pain. It was piercing to know that he was dead. That he was so young. I put on my journalist's hat and I called the police department in San Francisco to confirm that he was dead. I screamed, I screamed." This was Monday. Three friends called her Saturday. Two left messages and one called her cell (which she didn't answer.)
COULD YOU WAIT TWO DAYS TO CONFIRM THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE WAS DEAD?
This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, IMO. According to her timeline, she gets the news of this horrific, life-shattering tragedy on June 2, a Saturday. Her one true love has been found slain, left in a pool of blood, all alone. Yet, she waits two days before picking up the phone to try to confirm with the authorities that the love of her life was savagely stabbed to death. For some reason, once her worst fears are confirmed she hops on a plane immediately and returns that day to San Francisco to track down the Inspector for more information. Hold it!

This means from the moment her friends informed her on Saturday, she contained her emotions the rest of Saturday, all day Sunday and finally on Monday she attempts to reach the S.F. police to see if her nightmare is real. She doesn't even call his parents? Odd, especially given that a neighbor of Hugues who had a friend in common with another former employee where he worked, was savvy enough to realize the cops probably did not call his parents in France. Therefore, he calls a person who knew another person who worked with him and then, not knowing what to do, that individual called Melissa. The implication is she will know what to do. She will make sure his folks know what happened, given that the cops likely failed to do their duty, IMO. But, she waits for two days.
 
  • #248
Although I don't believe Melissa is the murderer, if I didn't know any different I would assume she was his current girlfriend when he died, not his ex-girlfriend of over 4 years ago. Clearly this girl never got over Hughes, and is pleased as punch that this murder has allowed her an 'in' back into his life. Now her life can revolve around Hughes once again, like it did when they were dating, even if he isn't alive. It's pretty weird if you ask me, and I understand WhiteFang's concerns. But unless someone can prove she was in San Francisco the night he was murdered, or prove she WAS NOT on the east coast where she says she was, I'm thinking the murderer was someone else - definitely not a complete stranger, but probably an acquaintance or boyfriend/husband of one of Hughes's lovers whom he had angered somehow. Sadly, I don't see this case as ever being solved unless the murderer decides to confess; it does sound like SFPD screwed this up royally from the start though. Just lately, from this and a few other cases, I've come to realize how incompetent a lot of PDs are.
 
  • #249
Mia, thanks for sharing. Interesting point of view. You see her wrapped up in his life and delighted to be so even though he's gone. I think so too.
How do you think she felt while he was out actively pursuing young ladies? Do you have any sense that this may have been torturous for her and sufficient to push her over the edge? Again, just my opinion, but I find it more difficult to imagine that she was able to cope with that kind of distress any longer. Plus, as some have emphasized, and it makes sense, he was planning to move out of the country.
The more carefully I read and listen to her statements, the more discrepancies emerge. She is exceedingly careful in the way she phrases things, too. And, I cannot fathom that if she did in fact receive the news on the 2nd., as she says, that she would be capable of, or interested in, delaying her call to the cops for confirmation, to notify his parents and to return to S.F.
 
  • #250
Kathy Longo, were you in Los Angeles on May 31, 2007 two days before Hugues was murdered? How did Mark B. know how to reach you if you remained there a couple days? Mark B. who among Hugues' neighbors called you with the news on Saturday?
Looking over Ms. Nix's comments, I wonder why she still refuses to address the plethora of errors surrounding various claims she has made. To give her credit, she lists the names of three people who called her but it isn't clear when she spoke to them or where she was when they called. She says 20 people can testify to her whereabouts that fateful weekend. Have them confirm where you were between Friday night from 10pm thru Saturday at noon. Can any of you twenty people do this?
The website honoring Hugues asks mourners to contact the media two days after his body was found, citing the importance of doing so.
She has crafted a special relationship with his family, too, by constantly referring to "Friends and family" in her messages. Friends and family wish to thank... Friends and family disagreed with the...Friends and family ask...
It is pretty clear who "friends" is, IMO. This type of phraseology lends itself to the kind of insider status unusual for a person who dated the deceased 4 years prior.
Melissa, go through the entire list of alleged contradictions, would you? There really are a whole host of them.
 
  • #251
Melissa, would you mind naming the 20 people who can prove you were in VA between 10pm June 1 2007 and 6am June 2 2007, to confirm your statement?
Apparently, you gave the names of three people who called you the day Hugues was murdered, but how can we be sure where you were when they called? They didn't know, did they?
The more I think about it, the stranger it seems for you to have asked, rhetorically, the first reporter you called (after returning to California and talking to the detective) why Hugues would commit suicide and then go outside. Where did you get that idea? Why would you say something like that when you had no idea what happened? Again, since you didn't hear the word "suicide" until then, why in the world did you think their theory was based on Hugues stabbing himself inside his apartment and then going outside? His autopsy had not begun at that point. And, the coroner never "determined" the cause of death as suicide, either, so why would she or the cops tell the reporter that it was? If they did, why would they tell him he did it inside and then went outside? He was not going to report it anyway. Why would they expose themselves to ridicule had they been wrong? Why mention it at all to an experienced reporter who didn't cover suicides in the first place? Also, if they told him it was just a theory, (and that is all it has ever been) wouldn't he be interested in featuring it as some type of baffling mystery?
The questions pertaining to how/who you learned of Hugues death were presented months before you answered. You shared that you weren't purposely avoiding the issue. Rather, you had been so depressed you weren't viewing the blogs. Are you saying that you were not keeping track of the latest information about Hugues' case? Particularly, following the t.v. exposure in the states and in France in November last year, were you too depressed to look to see if any promising clues had surfaced?
You refuted the observation that you were not "the ex-girlfriend of Hugues." Instead, you claimed you were, adamantly, and that you even made attempts over the years (after you ended it) to get back together. As a professional, with a Master's degree in journalism from Berkeley, it strikes me that you must have known the difference between being “an ex" of Hugues and being "the ex." You have repeatedly referred to yourself as “his ex-girlfriend.” There is a huge difference and it simply isn’t credible, IMO, that you don’t know.
Melissa, it seems so strange that you would look into Maureen Maher's eyes and tell her that Casillas would not talk to you and he had no questions for you. Absolutely not true and the 48 Hours piece proves it a little later in the broadcast.
Also, you told Casillas that you had broken up with Hugues more than FOUR years earlier, but it seems you didn't tell him about the times you tried to reunite over the years, besides the last time, five months before his murder. Why?
Why would you end it for good, finally, and not have anything whatsoever to do with him for the rest of his life, when he was your best friend?
Why not address these and a myriad of other issues? Silence is deafening. You have condemned many for the manner in which this case was handled. Yet, even you did not call Hugues' folks for two days. Concern the police didn’t contact his parents led the perceptive neighbor to start the chain of phone calls that eventually led to you in the first place. Why didn't you call them immediately? Why didn't you call the police immediately to confirm the news?
You see, Melissa? So many confusing facets to this story, your help would be appreciated.
 
  • #252
MELISSA, did you write this?

Regional digest: Elk Grove trustees to review budget.

The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, CA)

June 04, 2007

News wire article from: Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, CA) June 4, 2007
Byline: Melissa Nix Jun. 4

You prepared this article for the JUNE 4, 2007 issue, while you visited family in Virginia?
 
  • #253
Crime Reporter, Jaxon Van Derbeken, said in an article published on June 7, 2007 that the police were investigating the death of Hugues de la Plaza as a homicide. Nix said the cops told a crime reporter it was suicide, and that that is the reason he didn't report it. He only reported murders, never suicides. This is yet another example of something that just doesn't make sense, at all. Melissa, which crime reporter said he didn't investigate Hugues' death because the cops said it was a suicide? Why would the cops tell this reporter something different? They also told him that surveillance "photos" reveal he was by himself on his way home at 2am. Despite these "photos" the cops were pursuing this this as a homicide.

Melissa, will you ignore this problem with your account, as well? Why? You have nothing to fear, right?

"Hugues De La Plaza, 36, was found dead inside his Hayes Valley apartment early Saturday. He walked to his Linden Alley apartment from the Underground SF nightclub, police say.

Surveillance photos show that he was the only person who came into his building. Police say they have not determined whether De La Plaza suffered self-inflicted wounds or was stabbed to death by someone either outside or inside the apartment.

Some circumstances may point to suicide, they say, but they are still investigating the case as a possible homicide."

San Francisco Chronicle
 
  • #254
Recently, Hughes has made booze unreasonably. Melissa. "When I met him, I fell immediately in love with him," says Melissa. It was a crazy chic with tight black pants, her look of Parisian kid quirky octopus tattooed on his left shoulder, his passion for philosophy, his musical tastes very sharp Gainsbourg Boney M. groups through house of which I forget the name. It was an intellectual with an amazing culture. But the first time I saw him after we broke up in late 2006, he had changed. His face became redder. Above all, he drank no longer able to stand on his legs. We wanted to reconnect, he had not found another woman to love, but I wanted to change, it is less steep."

At 2 am, everyone is put out. Neil moved to Hugh to come and eat pizza with his girlfriend. "You would not know where to find cocaine instead?" Hugues retorted. Neil did not have a clue. It is the last to see him alive.

September 1, 2009
Paris Match by David Le Bailly and San Francisco, Olivier O'Mahony


Didn't Melissa tell 48 Hours that Hugues told her he quit cocaine, that he would not harm himself and she believed him? This story was published 2 and 1/2 months before 48 Hours aired Hugues' story. One of the last requests he ever made is for cocaine. Hugues is searching for cocaine.

NOTE: Melissa made the statement, "I believed him" in her OCC Complaint on July 29, 2009.
 
  • #255
Ms. Nix,
Name the twenty people who can verify with eyewitness proof you were in Virginia the entire time from 10 pm June 1 to noon June 2 2007.
What were you doing with crime scene photographs?
Why did you hire the cleaning crew?
Why did Jaxon report the cops told him they weren't sure Hugues' death was a suicide or homicide? Why would they tell your crime reporter it was suicide? why did you wait until June 4 to return to S.F. when you discovered Hugues was slain on the second? Why didn't you call Hugues' number to ask him to confirm he was dead? What did you expect the cops would be able to tell you that would be different from what your friends already told you, when you called them Monday morning? Three friends told you he was dead. Why would you scream when they told you? You already knew? Why wait until Monday to call them? You didn't answer the call when you were in the theater and the others left messages, so when did you actually speak to them? Did you call them back from your family's home in Virginia? Why have you refused to answer most of the questions others have asked you concerning specific issues? Why break up with your best friend? Why say you had to inform his folks when they had been informed, or so you say? When did you first see the security tape with Hugues on it? Before the cops did? Did you alter it? Where is the running clock that appears on the tape when the detectives and paramedics arrived? You see, Melissa? So many things don't add up.
Name the twenty people, won't you, Melissa? You want everyone to help solve this crime, right? Tell us everything you know, then. Why hold back if you sincerely desire transparency and the full cooperation and diligence of the cops? Why are you rude and hostile? Why do you withhold tons of information? Why are you so defensive?

See, the people you say called you had no idea where you were, did they?

PROOF MELISSA. PROOF. WHERE IS THE PROOF? WHERE IS PROOF THAT YOU WERE IN VIRGINIA MELISSA? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN HUGUES WAS STABBED TO DEATH?
HE WAS MOVING OUT OF THE COUNTRY, MELISSA. How did you feel about that, Melissa?

Detective Casillas, this question is for you. Have you cleared Melissa 100% from any/all involvement in this crime?
 
  • #256
Almost comedic, Ms. Nix. You were severely depressed so you weren't viewing the blogs "regularly" and that is the reason you didn't respond to concerns about discrepancies in your story various Friends of Hugues have been asking you for many months. "Regularly" is an interesting choice of words. You did observe blogs on occasion, though, is that right, just not regularly? Plus, Melissa, you said you were not avoiding those kinds of questions, at all, but that is precisely what you did and are doing, isn't it? There are a slew of very troubling questions you still refuse to address, even after all this time. So, please, don't make ridiculous statements and expect credibility. Especially, Ms. Nix, when you have crucified others who fail to meet your expectations, and justifiably so at times, don't pretend to be a hero crusading for transparency. There are just way too many issues surrounding your involvement in this affair you continue to ignore to make you believable. It is irresponsible, to say the least, of you not to come forward and explain in depth all the vagaries clouding your account. We are asking you again to tell everyone exactly what you know, what you did and why. Why would you hesitate, even for a split second, to come forward and reveal everything, every thing, you possibly can? Even when you say you are not withholding information, you withhold information.
 
  • #257
Almost comedic, Ms. Nix. You were severely depressed so you weren't viewing the blogs "regularly" and that is the reason you didn't respond to concerns about discrepancies in your story various Friends of Hugues have been asking you for many months. "Regularly" is an interesting choice of words. You did observe blogs on occasion, though, is that right, just not regularly? Plus, Melissa, you said you were not avoiding those kinds of questions, at all, but that is precisely what you did and are doing, isn't it? There are a slew of very troubling questions you still refuse to address, even after all this time. So, please, don't make ridiculous statements and expect credibility. Especially, Ms. Nix, when you have crucified others who fail to meet your expectations, and justifiably so at times, don't pretend to be a hero crusading for transparency. There are just way too many issues surrounding your involvement in this affair you continue to ignore to make you believable. It is irresponsible, to say the least, of you not to come forward and explain in depth all the vagaries clouding your account. We are asking you again to tell everyone exactly what you know, what you did and why. Why would you hesitate, even for a split second, to come forward and reveal everything, every thing, you possibly can? Even when you say you are not withholding information, you withhold information.
 
  • #258
Although I don't believe Melissa is the murderer, if I didn't know any different I would assume she was his current girlfriend when he died, not his ex-girlfriend of over 4 years ago. Clearly this girl never got over Hughes, and is pleased as punch that this murder has allowed her an 'in' back into his life. Now her life can revolve around Hughes once again, like it did when they were dating, even if he isn't alive. It's pretty weird if you ask me, and I understand WhiteFang's concerns. But unless someone can prove she was in San Francisco the night he was murdered, or prove she WAS NOT on the east coast where she says she was, I'm thinking the murderer was someone else - definitely not a complete stranger, but probably an acquaintance or boyfriend/husband of one of Hughes's lovers whom he had angered somehow. Sadly, I don't see this case as ever being solved unless the murderer decides to confess; it does sound like SFPD screwed this up royally from the start though. Just lately, from this and a few other cases, I've come to realize how incompetent a lot of PDs are.
Well said. I agree with your post; every sentence. The former gf is using Hugues’ death to her satisfaction; it’s a thrill for her. How very sad.
 
  • #259
One friend called M while she was in a theater, so she didn't answer. Two other friends left messages. So, according to her, three people tried to reach her over the phone with the news of Hugues' death, the day he was murdered. She doesn't acknowledge speaking to any of them, that day. She does state clearly that after she spoke to all three of them, THEN she called the SFPD to "confirm" he was dead. She screamed and immediately hopped on a plane. She WAITED two days before she confirmed he was dead? I do not believe that, not for a second. Can anyone believe that this woman could have waited two days to find out for sure that Hugues was dead?

She didn't answer the call in the theater and the other two left messages. Is M slick or what?

Why do some people get upset that others consider M a prime suspect? Because says she was on the East Coast? What does that statement have to do with anything? She looked straight into 48 Hours' cameras and a national audience and said Casillas never interviewed her. He had no questions for her either. SHE WAS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT UP "SUICIDE" AS A SERIOUS POSSIBILITY, saying she would believe it.

Dear Twenty People, once again, we ask you to verify M's whereabouts from Friday June 1 2007 at 10pm until Saturday June 2 at noon? If you, personally, don't have eyewitness proof, please, don't bother to respond. Thank you anyway.

So far, no one has stepped forward on this blog with that kind of specific assurance.
 
  • #260
Melissa, to prove you are not deliberately withholding information from concerned individuals with questions about Hugues' murder, would you ask the "Twenty" to cooperate and to acknowledge they knew of your whereabouts during the critical hours referenced above? Or, if you would prefer, you can tell us who they are. Thanks.
 

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